A first door module for a vehicle door is known from the publication DE 101 44 330 A1. The vehicle door disclosed there comprises a door shell and a door module, which for its part has a module support and a decorative trim fastened to the latter on the interior side. The module support is connected to the door shell in a sealed manner in such a way that the vehicle door is divided into an outer wet door chamber, located on the far side of the module support, and an inner dry door chamber, arranged on the near side of the module support.
Mechanical and electrical functional components, for example a door control device, are held on the sturdy module support and can be fitted into corresponding counterparts of the door components, for example of an electrical window lifter, in the wet door chamber during the assembly of the door module by using connecting means that are likewise arranged on the module support. This special design of the connecting means and the assigned counterparts means that the electrical or mechanical connection takes place by simply joining the door module with the door shell in the Y direction of a customary system of X, Y, Z coordinates of a motor vehicle, that is to say by a horizontal movement transversely to the traveling direction. After the joining of the door module, generally no further measures are required for the coupling of functional and door components. In individual cases, the connection is created by the first-time actuation of the functional components.
A prefabricated door module of such a design considerably simplifies and shortens the assembly at the vehicle manufacturer's and meets the set requirements. Since, however, the module support serves not only for receiving (heavy) functional elements in the dry door chamber but also for forming a seal between the dry door chamber and the wet door chamber, it is on the one hand to be designed with a correspondingly thick wall for absorbing the mechanical forces. On the other hand, it must completely cover the wet door chamber, in order to ensure the required sealing effect, and consequently has a considerable surface area extent. The door module is therefore comparatively heavy. Furthermore, such rigid plate-shaped components are generally less satisfactory in their acoustic properties.
A further door module is described in German Utility Model DE 296 07 664 U1. In the case of this vehicle door too, an assembly support of a rigid design serves in the same way for separating the wet door chamber and the dry door chamber and for securing functional elements which are arranged in trough-like depressions of the assembly support. In the case of this configuration, however, the electrical drive of a window lifter is arranged in the dry door chamber, so that only the mechanical scissors-type mechanism of the window lifter that is sensitive to moisture is accommodated in the dry door chamber. The connection between the electrical drive and the scissors-type mechanism takes place in a way not described in any more detail by means of a Bowden cable.
This door module has the same disadvantages as the prior art described at the beginning, without however being provided with the advantage of simplified assembly. With the door module having a wide variety of designs, the trough-like depressions provided for receiving the functional elements also have to be shaped for all conceivable equipment variations, whereby the weight of the door module is once again increased.
A door module of the generic type is disclosed in the publication WO 03/031233 A1. In the case of this door module, the separation between the dry region and the wet region is effected by a sheet of plastic, which is arranged between the metal structure of the vehicle door and the interior trim part. The sealing with respect to the metal structure takes place by means of a sealing bead, for example a foamed sealing cord, which may, if appropriate, be provided with a special surface coating in order to counteract penetration of moisture by capillary action. The sheet of plastic is for its part connected to the outwardly directed side of the interior trim part by adhesive bonding and is penetrated in a sealed manner by functional components arranged in the dry door chamber.
This design achieves an advantageous separation of the “supporting components” function and the “sealing or acoustics” function. The comparatively large surface area of the wet door chamber on the interior side is consequently covered over only by the thin-walled, and consequently lightweight, separating sheet.